Domex : 100% germ killer

Brand : Domex
Company : HLL
Agency : Lowe

This is a brand that is trying to challenge the unorganised sector. The household cleaner market is estimated to be around 400 crore and the phenyl market is around 200 crore. Domex is a major brand in the floor cleaning and disinfectant market in India.

Domex was launched in 1997 targeting the premium end of the market . Initially the brand was marketed as a premium specialist floor cleaner. Floor cleaners are less popular in the Indian households. Only 3% of the households use floor cleaners. 97 % use proxy products which are the combination of phenyl, detergents ,acids and bleaching powders.The purchase of floor cleaners depends on the demographic factors and the type of floors.

HLL realising the potential in this segment reduced the price of Domex from Rs 42 to Rs 22 to appeal to the mass market. Hll also tried to woo the hospital segment for Domex. It launched a co branded certification program called Domex Clean hospitals. This project was later put on hold.

Domex has a 30% share in the Rs 30 crore specialist floor cleaner market neck to neck with Lizol from Reckitt & Benckiser. How ever in the Rs 40 crore toilet cleaning segment Domex is lagging behind the market leader Harpic which have a market share of 75-80%.

While most of the players in the household cleaning segment focus on the cleaning ability, Domex is positioning itself as a germ fighting cleaner. It promises 100% germ kill ( if Domex is used undiluted) and is targeted at households where there are kids. Domex is also trying to fight Harpic using the " germ kill" platform. Harpic is focusing more on cleanliness. The ads are catchy and right on target.

Although the market for specialist cleaners is small the ultimate objective of Domex is to capture the unorganised Phenyl segment which is a larger segment. Domex launched a Domex + phenyl variant to capture this segment.

Domex also launched a direct to customer initiative named " phenyl Khallas" to educate the consumers about the virtue of using Domex comparing it with local phenyl.

Domex is a bold brand trying to capture a commodity market

Vimal suitings : Where art Thou ?

Brand : Vimal Suitings
Company : Reliance Industries Ltd
Agency : Mudra


One of the oldest and most respected iconic textile brand of India is languishing some where in the attic of the mega corporation Reliance. The brand which started of as a Saree brand developed itself into a mega textile brand for women , men and even for furniture ( Vimal Harmony is one of the largest furnishing brand).

Vimal suitings was launched in 1980 after the successful Vimal range of sarees. At that point of time Reliance was a predominantly a textile company. This brand was carefully positioned as a premium men's suitings brand. The brand which was handled by Mudra, was promoted heavily by Reliance. At that time the major competitors being Bombay Dyeing and Raymonds.

According to the case study of Vimal available in Mudra Website, the Vimal Suitings brand was developed in 4 stages . The first stage involved convincing the customer about the quality of the brand explaining the technology behind the making of Vimal in advertisements. The second stage involved creating a personality of the brand using living legends. In the ads, living legends like army veterans, experts in various fields were used as models to build the character of the brand as a credible brand. The third stage involved promoting the brand as a fashion brand or Style guru. The ads showed Kabir Bedi and the likes catched the imagination of the TG. The 4 stage used cricketer as models to appeal to larger crowd. May be Vimal was one of the first brands that used cricketer as models ( correct me if I'm wrong).

I would add the fifth stage as letting the brand die without giving it any marketing support.

The brand was targeted at the young ambitious who are challengers to the CEO's . The brand personality was stylish, and aspirational. Vimal was promoted using the famous tagline " OnlyVimal " created by Late Frank Simoes. The tagline is said to be personally approved by Dhirubai himself. The brand was a premium brand and the ads were catchy. Reliance also opened exclusive Vimal showrooms as a part of promoting the brand.

Later in the 1990's the Reliance business model changed. The company changed from textiles to petrochemicals and Vimal was not fitting into reliance business plans. It was the only retail brand of Reliance ( now we have RIM) and company never focused on Vimal.

As far as a marketer is concerned, Vimal was a great brand with huge potential ( whether it fits into Reliance plan is another issue). 90's also saw the shift in the consumer's preference towards readymades. Although reliance had a readymade brand "Reance" it was a half hearted move which resulted in a flop.

Vimal was known for its quality and style. Still people remembers its simple baseline " Only Vimal". Lack of marketing support had virtually killed the brand. Now the position that Vimal occupied is now owned by Raymonds and Reid & Taylor.

News reports suggest that Reliance may revive the Vimal brand owing to their retail foray and the opening of the textile sector to the global markets. Vimal have already being messed itself up with the launch of V2 brand which is cheap and available even in grocery stores. What a way to mess up a brand ! Vimal have stopped marketing sarees and is said to be concentrating on suitings. Suitings are becoming more popular because of the increasing globetrotters and professionals.

Reviving Vimal will be very difficult since this brand has lost its touch with the new Indian consumer.

Oh Vimal!

Nightingale : Experience The Finest In Paper

Brand : Nightingale
Company : Srinivas Fine Arts

Nightingale is a super brand ( my choice). There has been lot of debates and thinking about how to market a commodity. Want an answer? Study this brand. Nightingale has carefully built one of the best brands in an industry dominated by unorganized sector.Nightingale is the brand owned by Srinivas Fine Arts (SFA). SFA had a humble beginning. Started in 1964 by Chockalingam and Brothers, as a print trading company in Sivakasi, SFA have now become a global player with a presence in 5 continents. SFA later expanded their business from print production of textile labels to maps and graphs. In 1974 SFA started its own paper trading business. In 1992, it expanded to packaging, soaps and matches.In 1990's SFA introduced the Nightingale brand to the world.

The Indian stationery market is estimated to be around 5000 crores with the organized market accounting to around 500 crores. Nightingale now produces a wide range of products from Diaries to notebooks and journals.

Nightingale right from the beginning carefully positioned itself as a premium brand. The market for diaries was not hot and no effort on branding was visible. I remember only one player : Eagle brand for diaries and notebooks.

Nightingale changed all that. It has created and now owns the premium end of the diaries and notebooks with a clear market and product strategy.
Nightingale brand is built on Innovation , Quality and Image. The brand has carefully segmented the premium segment of the Diary market. IT has also ensured that the quality will be the major focus. During the early days, there was not much focus on the quality aspect for these kinds of products. It was basically a functional or utility product. Nightingale changed that perception and positioned the diaries as a lifestyle product.

Besides quality, Innovation was the factor that was crucial in branding a commodity. Nightingale based its product not only on functionality but also on concepts. The diaries and notebooks are concept oriented. For example, there are Nightingale diaries like Religious diaries (Nightingale was the first one to come out with a Christian diary), Environmental Diaries, Notebooks which are based on personalities, Diaries that have cartoons and quotes, Vedic diaries etc. Altogether there are 264 varieties of diaries from Nightingale.
Nightingale was the first brand to have diaries for various professionals like engineers, doctors which had special sections useful for these professionals.
Nightingale also markets its most expensive diary “ Silver Oak “ which is priced at Rs 57000. This undated diary has 140 gm silver ornamentation and designed by David Sarac. Already the corporate have grabbed this product for corporate gifting.

Let us look at how carefully Nightingale crafts each of the products. Take the case of a product called Layflat notebook. The product have long durability , It maximizes the use of space and have a special ruling and comes with a page marker. Each of the products has some qualities that make it worthy of a premium.

Innovations like a five year diary, undated diaries, theme based diaries personal journals like journal to write about your dreams, and Fashion diaries have made this brand a lifestyle brand.

With Nightingale , experience the finest in branding....

Pleasure : Why Should Boys Have All The Fun ?

Brand : Pleasure
Company: Hero Honda
Agency: FCB Ulka

November 2005 saw the launch of the scooter from Hero Honda branded " Pleasure". The launch is a bold one because of two reasons
1. The scooter is going to compete with its technology partner Honda.
2. Hero Honda is perceived as a bike manufacturer.

Pleasure is a 102 cc scooter targeting the young ladies. The launch makes sense because the scooter segment is now growing and is expected to touch 1 million units. In the scooter segment , the ungeared scooter segment is growing very fast. Hero Honda wants to have a pie of this segment. It is a paradox in that in 1990's Hero Honda disrupted Scooters with its 4 stroke bikes and now it is introducing a scooter.

Pleasure is positioned as a Pleasure scooter. The company is targeting Ladies and Ladies only ( that is clearly and obviously cried out in the baseline and in the ads). That,I will call a sound strategy. If you are targeting ladies, why should you expect men to ride that scooter. So Hero Honda has decided that the brand will be for ladies. Pleasure is going to be sold through " Just4her" showrooms where the salesperson will be ladies . ( Men are going to be pissed off by that)

The product comes with 8 flashy colours and lot of features for the fairer sex like broader seats, electric start etc. So as far as the product concept goes, Hero Honda have a winner at hand.

The communication executed by FCB Ulka which is splashed all over the channels have an international look and aimed at the ladies of age group 18 - 35. The segmentation is based on the current techno boom and the emerging empowered ladies segment.

Will it work in the real world?

If I had the answer, I would have been next Philip Kotler.

There are some danger points in Pleasure's paths. The product is pitted against Honda Activa and Dio. Activa is a formidable player and its reputation itself is an entry barrier for Pleasure. Since the pricing of Pleasure is comparable with that of Dio, Pleasure should have to make sure that it create a meaningful differentiation.

Hero Honda off late has been unsuccessful in its new product launches. It has not been able to take out Pulsar or Boxer and all the new product launches like Ambition was flops. So Hero Honda will have to convince the ladies to choose Pleasure over Activa. If Hero Honda is able to sustain the brand over one year, there is a possibility of migration from Scooterette segment to Pleasure.

Till that time " Let boys have fun" .....

Yamaha : Not truly Yamaha !

Brand: Yamaha
Company: Yamaha
Agency : Dentsu

Yamaha which once ruled the mind of Indian youth is now in dire straits. The company which is the second largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world is having a market share of 5% in the booming Indian two wheeler market which is growing at a rate of 12-15%.

Why?

Yamaha is a performance bike manufacturer which recently celebrated its golden jubilee of its existence . In India Yamaha was present in a joint venture with Escorts which brought out the blockbuster Yamaha RX 100 and the cult Yamaha RD 350. Yamaha and Hero Honda had during the late 80's beat the hell out of scooter manufacturers , but Yamaha now has lost its edge. Yamaha broke the partnership with Escorts and started its India operations as a 100% subsidiary of Yamaha Japan from 2001 onwards.

Yamaha was not able to sustain the momentum it had generated during 1990's with RX100. RX100 was a bike that had style and substance. The product was powerful, gave no mech problems and was embraced by the youth. But after the tight environmental regulations introduced in 90's , RX100 had to be shelved. RX100 was replaced by RX135 which was no where near RX100. The ride was terrible and the product had nothing to boast about. It was the beginning of decline of Yamaha.

Yamaha was not able to bringout a blockbuster product in the recent past. It is unfair if I don't mention that there were lot product launches from Yamaha but nothing clicked. The reason being that the company was focused on Utility segment ( true that money is there only in that segment). Yamaha did not try to look at the changing profile of the Indian consumer.

Yamaha also thought that it had the same premium image in the mind of the customer . It failed to realise that the brand equity has eroded because of failed product launches. It had no product to showcase its superiority as a bike manufacturer. While Bajaj demonstrated its arrival in to the bike segment with Eliminator and Pulsar, Yamaha still tried its luck in the executive segment which was dominated by Splendor from Hero Honda.

Yamaha should have realised that inorder to break the Splendor's dominance, It had to build a brand in the premium segment and using that image, try its luck in the mid segment. Bajaj launched Eliminator to show the technical superiority. We drooled at the cruiser and then grabbed Pulsar. Yamaha failed to do that.

Yamaha tried to shock the market with a low priced Cruiser Enticer at an unbelievable price of 49000 but the product failed because the company wanted to play the volume game. Enticer could not sustain the huge initial it got because the market for cruiser was only emerging and the product did not live up to the expectation. Cruiser with only a power of 125 cc was itself a failing proposition. Now that there is a trend towards low priced cruiser pioneered by Bajaj Avenger, Enticer relaunch may succeed.

Yamaha then launched Crux and Libero and Fazer in the executive segment but could not set the market on fire . The company says that it is moving away from utility bikes to performance bikes. The launch of Fazer was towards this direction. The product had an unusual look hence failed to catch the imagination of Indian bike enthusiasts. Here again the company made a mistake of not making a statement.

Yamaha is having big plans for India. The company is earmarking 200 crores in revamping its operations. On the marketing side, it has roped in John Abraham as the brand ambassador.

I am no expert in Motorcycles but I feel that Yamaha now needs to make a STATEMENT. A powerful statement that will force the consumers to look up and say " Its a Yamaha".

Just compare the Fazer launched in India and the Fazer which is showcased internationally, the Indian Fazer is no where near the international one. Why did Yamaha which wanted to play the lifestyle game launch a stripped down Fazer ? Had it launched a chunky masculine Yamaha in India, the brand will move miles ahead in the mind of the consumer. Forget the price and the volume, bring the best bike to India and make a statement.

What we have in India is not the Yamaha but only a shadow. Yamaha if it wants to emerge from the shadows will have to shed the volume game and seriously build the brand.

To become Truly Yamaha , Change the rules...

Chevrolet Tavera : Family car or Taxi?

Brand : Tavera
Company: Chevrolet ( GM)
Agency : Enterprise Nexus? or McCann?

Chevrolet Tavera was launched in 2004 by GM to tap the emerging segment in the Indian Automotive market : the SUVs. The brand has a good start and helped GM to project the much needed growth interms of volume.

Tavera was pitted against Qualis when it was launched. Tavera was better in styling and other features, while Qualis was the ugly duckling. So naturally Tavera with its aggressive pricing became the choice of families.

Tavera was initially positioned as a comfortable family car. It was slated to dominate the Multi- utility vehicle segment with a potential even to eat into the C-class segment dominated by Hyundai Accent, Ikon and City.
But nothing happened. The sales of Tavera was dipping and contrary to expectations, this product is not setting the market on fire.

India is a good market for MUV or rather large vehicles. Although parking can be a major problem, the psychographic profile of Indian families need such a large mode of transport. We Indians like to take the family together on trips, films outing etc. Most of the cars can accommodate 4 or maximum 5. If you have kids, they need more space to enjoy the drive. Iam not kidding because we think that kids need less space so we cram them up in small cars . Really they are uncomfortable sitting in Mom's lap or fighting with the sibling for the window view.

Tavera sought to eliminate all that. The car is large, price is good, reviews about handling and comfort is also good, but something somewhere is missing. The part which is missing is right positioning.

The car which was initially positioned as a family car is now marketed as a Taxi. The baseline is now changed from ' The comfortable family car" to " To drive your business ahead". GM wants to play the volume game. It is perfectly working and I am seeing lot of Tavera Taxis. It is the same story as Qualis.

GM needs to learn from Toyota, how they position the Innova as the family car despite the vehicle being used as taxis. Tavera is yet to decide on the strategy. It wants to be a family car and taxi? Can a brand be every thing to every one?

The dilemma is evident in the new campaign with Irfan Pathan and Zaheer Khan playing cricket in Tavera. One of the most ridiculous thing I have seen in promoting the product. If you are talking to family, then cricket is not the right media. If you are talking to business people, then talk about car features not cricket. Any way you look at the campaign , it is absolute waste of money. The company is also changing its agency and when ever the agency changes, expect the positioning also changes.

Tavera have to decide where it want to go. Family or business. If it is family, then the volume will take time to come and if it is business, spent money on direct selling rather than spending money on Irfan or Zaheer.

With excellent product qualities and price, Tavera have all the potential to survive in Indian market If only .......